We made it

Downtown Cheyenne

Salt Lake City

After driving all day Saturday to reach Cheyenne, and then having to find a decent (i.e., cheap) place to stay, looking for something to eat, and a little roping and branding, I was just to tired to compose a blog entry, so I'll try to make up for it now.

Saturday was uneventful, but long. Lots of driving. It rained coming in to Omaha, and then for about 30 miles.  West of Omaha the land began to open up wider and the highway became straighter. Also, it became clear even to my untrained eye that a lot of the corn was dead or stunted.

We stopped at Cabela's, a huge hunting and fishing outfitters, to look for a shirt for Serry.  I don't think we have Cabela's in the East. If you're ever out west and see one, stop in. The original store, in Sidney, Nebraska, is really something. It contains an amazing display of every North American game animal in a life-like diorama-like setting. Yes...of course they're dead.

Observation: On the Capital beltway, and other busy highways in the East where the speed limit is 55mph, everybody's going 75.  Out here, when the speed limit is 70, everybody's doing 75.  Perhaps this means that we're comfortable doing 75, and don't want to go much faster even when it's permitted.

Today, before leaving Cheyenne for Utah, we rode slowly through the deserted city and stopped at the state capital to take pictures.

West of Cheyenne  the countryside really opens up, and you understand what "wide-open spaces" means. Also, the topography becomes hillier and more interesting, with outcrops of rocks, small mesas, etc. And we saw a bunch of pronghorn antelope grazing by the highway. Very cool.

You may have noticed that we cleverly decided to leave on our trip just as gas prices were starting to take off. In most places we've been paying about $3.90, but in Laramie, WY (Is there a more Western-sounding place than Laramie?) we paid only $3.29.

Along the road we stopped in Wyoming at a place called Little America, a huge truck stop that also caters to regular drivers, with gas stations, restaurants, gift shops, a motel, etc. I'm not sure this was really a town, but it has its own post office and zip code.

Anyway, we finally made it to Salt Lake City. We're staying right in town and we'll explore the place tomorrow.

Pizza in Iowa

Indiana Museum of Art

Coralville, Iowa

Last night we stayed in a Baymont Inn that seemed kind of empty to us. This morning we learned that most of the other "guests" were living there. Serry overheard someone say she had lost her job, including the money she had contributed toward her retirement plan. It's very sad. At home, people experience hard times when their Mercedes is no longer brand new. Out here people really have it rough.

I'm glad to report that about 20 miles west of Dayton the road started to become less crowded and crazy. I guess these days you just have to travel a little further west to get out of the hubbub.

When I sit in the car as a passenger, I sit quietly looking out the window and maybe checking the map. When Serry's the passenger, it's like there's a family of monkeys in her seat. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her texting, playing with the GPS, climbing in the backseat to retrieve something, etc. It's exhausting just to watch her.

We stopped in Indianapolis today and spent three hours at the Indiana Museum of Art, a terrific place in the middle of 100 acres of gardens, sculpture gardens, etc. They have some great exhibits and I was really impressed with the quality of the little notes explaining the pieces of art. Concise, clear, and very accessible, they reminded me of Kimberly's masters thesis. This place is well worth a visit if you're ever out this way.

After the museum we drove the rest of the way through Indiana, all the way through Illinois, and part way through Iowa. Lots and lots of corn. It's kind of amazing that we can use it all, and we just rode through a narrow strip of only a couple of the states where it's grown in such large amounts. I tried to discern whether the corn has been damaged by the drought. I assume it has, but I don't know enough about how it should look at this time of year to be able to judge.


Now we're in Coralville where we just finished have a pizza in a sort of hip, trendy new brew pub. The beer was good and so was the pizza. But the kitchen is too small for the amount of patrons (on Friday night, anyway), and it took almost an hour for our pie to get to the table. (The waiter warned us it might take about 30 minutes. He was well-meaning...but way wrong.)

Tomorrow we'll see if we can get as far as Cheyenne, WY.

On the road again...

Huber Heights, Ohio (near Dayton)

Not much to report today. Except for rest stops, gas, etc., all we did is drive. We've seen the stuff here, we want to explore the West. When I drove to Colorado a couple of time 20 years ago-- Michael was at Colorado State majoring in mountain biking--it seemed to me there was hardly any traffic when I reached Ohio. I felt like I was sitting in my living room watching a highway on a big- screen TV.  No more: Now I-70 in Ohio feels like the Jersey Turnpike--construction holdups, rush-hour jams, tailgaters, lane weavers!  I can't believe how things have changed in 20 years. I haven't changed, why should Ohio?

Anyway, we had a nice Thai dinner, and now we're deciding where to stop off tomorrow. Maybe Indianapolis.

Richmond, VA

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

I'm here in Richmond visiting Michael, Kim, and Felix. Michael's showing me how to add pictures to my posts.

Cuter than a National Park but...

Despite little Felix being far cuter than any National Park, we are headed out west this Thursday to explore Utah and Colorado...

Mr. Baby is now Felix Wolfe Lease. He was born to Michael and Kimberly on May 1, 2012, at 3:30 am, 5lbs 14oz, 19 inches. Of course he's beautiful! There was a lot of crying when Serry and I met him at the hospital, but Michael and I finally stopped; Felix didn't make a peep. Serry and I were never sure we'd actually have a grandchild, and we were okay with that, but now that we really have one, it's just great. I can't wait to teach him guy-thing like sports, and hunting and fishing--all the things I tried to teach Michael, but that never really took. The hard part for us will be staying away. If Felix wasn't 100 miles from here, we'd be finding excuses to be there every day. Oh well, this way he'll look a bit different each time we see him.

BIG DOINGS

Upper Marlboro - November 17, 2011

I've been remiss. Michael reminded me that I must have something to write about since the big flood, so here goes.

Well, we didn't replace the ruined Accord with a Maserati. Bought a new Honda CR-V instead. I'm too old to get in and out of a low-slung sports car.

Moving on to lesser events...on October 15 Donna and John were married in a beautiful outdoors ceremony at Billingsley Manor on the banks of the Patuxent River in Upper Marlboro. It was a beautiful day and evening and Donna and John couldn't have looked happier.

Donna has now officially changed her name to Donna Grace Lease Batdorf. Donna is of the view (I believe) that her last name is now Lease Batdorf. My view is that without a hyphen connecting the two names, Lease is just an extra middle name. I know, I know...who cares, other than a retired guy with too much time on his hands...

And as if the above weren't enough, Michael and Kim announced that they're pregnant, with the baby due in May!

So this has been a big year for us...and it's not over yet. On November 27 Serry and I will be married 46 years! And the next day Michael will be 39! (We no longer announce Donna's age.)